JP5081160B2 - Consistent method for improving the quality of heavy oil and in-line hydrofinishing method - Google Patents

Description

  This application is co-pending application Nos. 11/305377 (filed December 16, 2005), 11/305378 (filed December 16, 2005), and 11/303425 (filed March 20, 2006). ) Part continuation application.

  The present invention relates to a method for improving the quality of heavy oil using a slurry catalyst composition. In one embodiment, quality improvement is followed by hydrofinishing.

  Due to the growing global demand for petroleum products, the processing of heavy oil is drawing much attention today. Canada and Venezuela are heavy oil producing countries. The process of completely converting heavy oil feedstock into useful products is a method of particular interest.

  The following patent, incorporated by reference, relates to the preparation and use of a highly active slurry catalyst composition in a process for improving the quality of heavy oil.

  US patent application Ser. No. 10 / 9,382 is related to the preparation of a catalyst composition suitable for hydroconversion of heavy oil. This catalyst composition is prepared by a series of steps including mixing the Group VIB metal oxide and aqueous ammonia to form an aqueous mixture and sulfiding the mixture to form a slurry. The slurry is then enhanced with a Group VIII metal. Subsequent steps include mixing the slurry with hydrocarbon oil and combining the resulting mixture with hydrogen gas and a second hydrocarbon oil having a lower viscosity than the first oil. An active catalyst composition is thereby formed.

  US patent application Ser. No. 10 / 936,003 relates to the preparation of a slurry catalyst composition. This slurry catalyst composition is prepared in a series of steps including mixing the Group VIB metal oxide and aqueous ammonia to form an aqueous mixture and sulfiding the mixture to form a slurry. The slurry is then enhanced with a Group VIII metal. Subsequent steps include mixing the slurry and hydrocarbon oil, and combining the resulting mixture with hydrogen gas to produce an active slurry catalyst (under conditions where water maintains a liquid phase).

  US patent application Ser. No. 10/934438 relates to a method of using a slurry catalyst composition in a heavy oil quality improvement process. This slurry catalyst composition cannot be stabilized and may become deactivated. This slurry is recycled to the quality-enhancing reactor for repeated use, and the product does not require further separation procedures for catalyst removal.

  US patent application Ser. No. 10 / 938,200 relates to a method for upgrading heavy oil using a slurry composition. The slurry composition is prepared in a series of steps including mixing the Group VIB metal oxide with aqueous ammonia to form an aqueous mixture and sulfiding the mixture to form a slurry. The slurry is then enhanced with a Group VIII metal compound. Subsequent steps include mixing the slurry and hydrocarbon oil, and combining the resulting mixture with hydrogen gas to produce an active slurry catalyst (under conditions where water maintains a liquid phase).

  US patent application Ser. No. 10/934269 relates to a method for upgrading heavy oil using a slurry composition. This slurry composition is prepared in a series of steps including mixing the Group VIB metal oxide and aqueous ammonia to form an aqueous mixture and sulfiding the mixture to form a slurry. The slurry is then enhanced with a Group VIII metal. Subsequent steps include mixing the slurry and hydrocarbon oil and combining the resulting mixture with hydrogen gas and a second hydrocarbon oil having a lower viscosity than the first oil. An active catalyst composition is thereby formed.

In the hydroconversion process of heavy oil in a slurry, sulfur or nitrogen was almost completely removed from the final product by the process, and at least two consecutive upflow reactors were optionally placed between each reactor. Used with a separator, said method comprising the following steps:
(A) combining a heated heavy oil feedstock, an active slurry catalyst composition and a hydrogen-containing gas to form a mixture;
(B) passing the mixture of step (a) through the bottom of the first reactor of the upflow reactor maintained at slurry hydroconversion conditions, including high temperature and pressure,
(C) removing the vapor mixture comprising product, gas, unconverted material and slurry catalyst from the top of the first reactor and passing it to the first separator;
(D) In the first separator, the vapor stream containing the product and gas column top fraction is removed towards a lean oil contactor and the liquid bottom material containing unconverted material and slurry catalyst is removed at high temperature and high pressure. Passing through the bottom of the second reactor of the upflow reaction maintained at hydroconversion conditions, comprising
(E) removing the vapor mixture comprising product, gas, unconverted material and slurry catalyst from the top of the second reactor and passing it to the second separator;
(F) In the second separator, the vapor stream containing the product and gas column top fraction is removed towards the lean oil contactor, and the liquid bottom material containing unconverted material and slurry catalyst is further processed. The process of passing through,
(G) In the step of contacting the vapor stream containing the product and gas with the lean oil contactor in countercurrent with the lean oil, the entrained catalyst and unconverted material are removed by contact with the lean oil leaving as the bottom material. The product and gas are passed to the top of the column,
(H) A method comprising the step of passing the top material of step (g) through a hydrotreater for removal of sulfur and nitrogen.

  The slurry quality improvement process of the present invention converts approximately 98% of the vacuum residue to a lighter product (in the boiling range below 1000 ° F.). Some of these products require further processing steps due to their high nitrogen, high sulfur and high aromatic content, and low API. The present invention uses a hydrofinishing downstream of the slurry quality enhancement process, resulting in almost complete removal of sulfur and nitrogen from the final product.

  The present invention relates to a process for catalyst activated slurry hydrocracking, as represented in FIG. Stream 1 contains a heavy feed such as vacuum residue. This feed enters the furnace 80 where it is heated and exits to stream 4. Stream 4 combines with the stream containing hydrogen-containing gas (stream 2) and the active slurry composition (stream 23) to form a mixture (stream 24). Stream 24 enters the bottom of first reactor 10. A vapor stream 5 containing product, gas, slurry, and unconverted material exits the top of the reactor. Stream 5 passes to a high temperature and high pressure separator 40 which is preferably a flash drum. The vapor stream containing product and gas is removed from the top as stream 6. Stream 6 is passed to a lean oil contactor for further processing steps. Liquid stream 7 is removed through the bottom of separator 40. Stream 7 contains the slurry together with unconverted oil.

  Stream 7 together with a gas stream containing hydrogen (stream 15) creates stream 25. Stream 25 enters the bottom of second reactor 20. Vapor stream 8 comprising product, gas, slurry and unconverted material exits the second reactor from the top of the column and passes to separator 50, which is preferably a flash drum. Product and gas are removed through the top as stream 9 and passed to a lean oil contactor for further processing steps. Liquid stream 11 is removed through the bottom of the flash drum. Stream 11 contains the slurry together with unconverted oil.

  Stream 11 together with a gas stream containing hydrogen (stream 16) creates stream 26. Stream 26 enters the bottom of third reactor 30. The stream 12 leaving the third reactor 30 passes to a separator 60 which is preferably a flash drum. Product and gas are removed from the top of the separator 60 as stream 13. Liquid stream 17 is removed through the bottom of separator 60. Stream 17 contains the slurry together with unconverted oil. A portion of this stream may be withdrawn through stream 18.

  Vapor streams 6, 9 and 13 from the top of the tower create a stream 14 that passes to the lean oil contactor 70. A stream 22 containing lean oil, such as vacuum gas oil, enters the top of the lean oil contactor 70 and (1) removes any possible entrained catalyst and (2) heavy material (containing a small amount of vacuum residue Flows downward due to a decrease in high boiling range oil).

  Product and gas (vapor stream 21) exit the lean oil contactor 70 from the top of the column, while the liquid stream 19 exits from the bottom. Stream 19 contains a mixture of slurry and unconverted oil. Stream 19 is combined with stream 17 which also contains a mixture of slurry and unconverted oil. Fresh slurry is added to stream 3 and stream 23 is created. Stream 23 is combined with the feed to the first reactor 10.

  Stream 21 enters steam exchanger (or generator) 90 for cooling before hydrofinishing. The purpose of the steam exchanger is to control the hydrofinishing reactor inlet temperature as needed. Stream 21 enters the top bed of hydrofinisher 100, which is a fixed bed reactor, preferably a fixed bed reactor having multiple beds of active hydrotreating catalyst. Hydrogen (stream 27) is inserted as an inter-bed quench when multiple beds are used. The hydrofinished product is removed as stream 28.

  The hydrofinisher further refines the product from the slurry quality improver to a high quality product by removing impurities and stabilizing the product by saturation. Sulfur and nitrogen removal greater than 99% by weight may be achieved. The reactor effluent is cooled by means of heat recovery and sent to a product recovery zone such as in any conventional hydroprocessing unit.

  The conditions for hydrofinishing hydrocarbons are well known to those skilled in the art. Common conditions are 400-800 ° F., 0.1-3 LHSV, and 200-3000 psig. A useful catalyst for the hydrofinishing reaction is preferably a combination of nickel, cobalt and molybdenum supported on zeolato or amorphous material.

  Optional embodiments not shown in the drawings include a series of reactors in which one or more of the reactors includes a flash drum following an internal separation means or reactor rather than an external separator. In other embodiments, there is no intermediate stage separation between one or more of the series of reactors.

  Methods for preparing the catalyst slurry compositions used in the present invention are shown in US patent application Ser. No. 10 / 932,003 and US patent application Ser. No. 10 / 9,382, which are incorporated by reference. The catalyst composition is useful for hydrogenation quality improvement methods such as, but not limited to, thermal hydrocracking, hydrotreating, hydrodesulfurization, hydrodenitration, and hydrodemetallation.

  A feedstock suitable for use in the present invention is shown in US patent application Ser. No. 10 / 937,269, which is a normal pressure residue, a vacuum residue, tar from a solvent deasphalting apparatus, a normal pressure gas oil, a vacuum. Gas oil, deasphalted oil, olefin, tar sand or bitumen derived oil, coal derived oil, heavy crude, synthetic oil from Fischer-Tropsch process, and recovered oil waste and polymer derived oil. Suitable feedstocks also include atmospheric residue, vacuum residue and tar from solvent deasphalting equipment.

  The preferred type of reactor in the present invention is a liquid recycle reactor, although other types of upflow reactors may be used. Liquid recycle reactors are further discussed in US patent application Ser. No. 11 / 305,359, which is incorporated by reference.

  A liquid recycle reactor is an upflow reactor in which heavy hydrocarbon oil and hydrogen rich gas mixed with a slurry catalyst are fed at high temperature and pressure for hydroconversion.

  Hydroconversion includes methods such as hydrocracking and removal of heteroatom contaminants (such as sulfur and nitrogen). When using a slurry catalyst, the catalyst particle size is extremely small (1-10 microns). A pump may be used but is generally not needed for recirculation. Sufficient movement of the catalyst is usually achieved without them.

  FIG. 2 illustrates another embodiment for a method for catalyst activated slurry hydrocracking. Stream 1 contains a heavy feed such as vacuum residue. This feed enters the furnace 80 where it is heated and exits to stream 4. Stream 4 is combined with a stream containing hydrogen-containing gas (stream 2) and the active slurry composition (stream 23) to form a mixture (stream 24). Stream 24 enters the bottom of first reactor 10. Vapor stream 5 containing slurry, product and hydrogen, and unconverted material exits the top of reactor 10. Stream 5 passes to separator 40, which is preferably a flash drum. Product and hydrogen are removed from the top as stream 6. Liquid stream 7 is removed through the bottom of the flash drum. Stream 7 contains the slurry together with unconverted oil.

  Stream 7 together with a gas stream containing hydrogen (stream 15) creates stream 25. Stream 25 enters the bottom of second reactor 20. Vapor stream 8 containing product, hydrogen, slurry and unconverted material passes to separator 50, which is preferably a flash drum. Product and hydrogen are removed from the top of the column as stream 9 in a vapor stream. Liquid stream 11 is removed through the bottom of the flash drum. Stream 11 contains the slurry together with unconverted oil.

  Stream 11 together with a gas stream containing hydrogen (stream 16) creates stream 26. Stream 26 enters the bottom of third reactor 30.

  Vapor stream 12 comprising product, hydrogen, slurry and unconverted material passes from reactor 30 through the top of column to separator 60, which is preferably a flash drum. Product and hydrogen are removed from the top of the column as a vapor stream 13. Liquid stream 17 is removed through the bottom of the flash drum. Stream 17 contains the slurry together with unconverted oil. A portion of this stream may be withdrawn through stream 18.

  Streams 6, 9 and 13 from the top of the column create stream 14 which passes to high pressure separator 70. A stream 21 containing lean oil, such as reduced pressure gas oil, enters the top of the high pressure separator 70. Product and hydrogen exit the lean oil contactor 70 from the top of the column as a vapor stream 22, while the liquid stream 19 exits from the bottom. Stream 19 contains a mixture of slurry and unconverted oil. Stream 19 is combined with stream 17 which also contains a mixture of slurry and unconverted oil. Fresh slurry is added to stream 3 and stream 23 is created. Stream 23 is combined with the feed to the first reactor 10.

  The present invention relates to a method for catalyst activated slurry hydrocracking with upstream in-line pretreatment as represented in FIG. Stream 1 contains a heavy feed such as vacuum residue. This feed enters the furnace 80 where it is heated and exits to stream 4. Stream 4 is combined with a hydrogen-containing gas (stream 2) to form a mixture (stream 101). Stream 101 enters the top of pretreatment reactor 100. The pretreatment device is a fixed bed hydrotreating device or a de-alphalt device. In a de-alphalt device, the solvent generally flows countercurrent to the feedstock. Deasphalted is not displayed. Stream 102 exits the bottom of the pretreatment apparatus and proceeds to a high temperature high pressure separator 110, which is preferably a flash drum. Product and hydrogen are removed through the top as a vapor stream, stream 103. Stream 103 is combined with stream 22. Unconverted material exits the bottom of the flash drum 110 as a liquid stream 104. Stream 104 is combined with stream 106. Stream 106 includes a recirculating slurry catalyst (stream 19) as well as a make-up slurry catalyst (stream 3). Streams 104 and 106 together form stream 107.

  Stream 107 enters the bottom of upflow reactor 10, which is preferably a liquid recycle reactor. A stream 5 vapor stream containing slurry, product, hydrogen and unconverted material exits the reactor from the top. Stream 5 passes to a high temperature and high pressure separator 40 which is preferably a flash drum. Product and hydrogen are removed from the top of the column in a vapor stream as stream 6. The liquid stream 7 is removed through the bottom of the flash drum. Stream 7 contains the slurry together with unconverted oil.

  Stream 7 together with a gas stream containing hydrogen (stream 15) creates stream 25. Stream 25 enters the bottom of second reactor 20. Stream 8, which is a vapor stream comprising slurry, product, hydrogen and unconverted material, passes through the top of the reactor 20 to a separator 50, preferably a flash drum. Product and hydrogen are removed via the top as vapor stream 9. Liquid stream 11 is removed through the bottom of the flash drum. Stream 11 contains the slurry together with unconverted oil. Stream 11 together with a gas stream containing hydrogen (stream 16) creates stream 26. Stream 26 enters the bottom of second reactor 30. Vapor stream 12 passes from reactor 30 to a high temperature and high pressure separator 60, preferably a flash drum, via the top. Product and hydrogen are removed from the top of the column as a vapor stream 13. Stream 17 is removed through the bottom of flash drum 60. Liquid stream 17 contains the slurry together with unconverted oil. A portion of this stream may be withdrawn through stream 18.

  Vapor streams 6, 9 and 13 from the top of the column create stream 14 which passes to lean oil contactor 70. A stream 22 containing lean oil, such as vacuum gas oil, enters the top of the lean oil contactor 70 and (1) removes any possible entrained catalyst and (2) heavy material (containing a small amount of vacuum residue Flows downward due to a decrease in the high boiling range. Product and hydrogen (stream 21) exit the lean oil contactor 70 as vapor from the top of the column, while the liquid stream 19 exits from the bottom. Stream 21 together with product stream 103 forms stream 22 that is sent to hydrofinishing.

  Stream 19 contains a mixture of slurry and unconverted oil. Stream 19 is combined with stream 17 which also contains a mixture of slurry and unconverted oil. New slurry is added to stream 3 and stream 106 is created. Stream 106 is combined with the feed to first reactor 10 (stream 104) to create stream 107.

  The heavy product fraction is hydrofinished to remove any residual olefins. The hydrofinisher further refines the product from the slurry quality improver to remove impurities and stabilize the product to a high quality product. More than 99 wt% sulfur and nitrogen removal may be achieved. The reactor effluent is cooled by means of heat recovery and sent to a product recovery zone such as in any conventional hydroprocessing unit.

  Conditions for pretreating hydrocarbons are well known to those skilled in the art. Pretreatment may include hydroprocessing or deasphalting. Hydroprocessing is a well-known form of feed pretreatment and typically occurs in fixed bed hydroprocessing reactors having one or more beds. Hydroprocessing is generally disclosed in US Pat. No. 6,890,423 and is discussed in Petroleum Refining (2nd edition: 1984) by Gary and Handwerk. General hydroprocessing conditions vary over a wide range. Generally, the overall LHSV is about 0.25 to 2.0, preferably about 0.5 to 1.0. The hydrogen partial pressure exceeds 200 psia, preferably in the range of about 500 psia to about 2000 psia. The hydrogen recycle rate is generally above 50 SCF / Bbl, preferably 1000 to 5000 SCF / Bbl. The temperature ranges from about 300F to about 750F, preferably from 450F to 600F. Catalysts useful in hydroprocessing operations are well known in the art. Suitable catalysts include noble metals of group VIIIA (according to the 1975 rules of the International Pure Applied Chemistry Association (IUPAC)), such as platinum or palladium on an alumina or silicon matrix, and unsulfurized groups VIIIA and VIB, such as And nickel-molybdenum or nickel-tin on an alumina or silicon matrix. Non-noble metals (such as nickel-molybdenum) hydrides are usually as oxides, more preferably or as possible, and as sulfides when such compounds are readily formed from the specific metals involved. Present in the final catalyst composition. Preferred non-noble metal catalyst compositions are greater than about 5 wt.%, Preferably about 5 to about 40 wt.% Molybdenum and / or tungsten, and at least about 0.5, generally determined as the corresponding oxide. Contains about 1 to about 15 weight percent nickel and / or cobalt. The noble metal (such as platinum) catalyst may contain more than 0.01% metal, preferably 0.1 to 1.0% metal. A combination of noble metals such as a mixture of platinum and palladium may be used.

  The pretreatment may be selectively deasphalted when the feedstock used contains asphalt. Deasphalting is usually accomplished by using propane as the solvent, but other solvents may include low boiling paraffin hydrocarbons such as ethane, butane or pentane. Deasphalting techniques are well known in the field of purification, but are discussed in the text of Petroleum Refining. Deasphalting is generally disclosed in patents such as US Pat. Nos. 6,264,826 and 5,993,644.

  Other embodiments for a slurry reactor system not shown include a series of reactors in which one or more of the reactors includes an internal separation means or a flash drum following the reactor rather than an external separator. It is done.

  From the above table, it can be seen that the hydrofinishing of the slurry hydrocracking product provides a dramatic reduction in sulfur and nitrogen content in a range of products and individual product cuts such as jet fuel and diesel. it is obvious.

FIG. 2 represents the process scheme of the present invention using three reactors followed by a hydrofinishing reactor. FIG. 3 represents the process scheme of the present invention using three reactors. FIG. 3 represents the process scheme of the present invention using a fixed bed pretreatment reactor upstream of three reactors using catalyst slurry in the same process loop.

Claims (21)

A process for hydroconversion of heavy oil in a slurry in which sulfur or nitrogen is almost completely removed from the final product by said process and at least two consecutive upflow reactors are arranged between each reactor. Wherein the method comprises the following steps:
(A) combining a heated heavy oil feedstock, an active slurry catalyst composition and a hydrogen-containing gas to form a mixture;
(B) passing the mixture of step (a) through the bottom of the first reactor of the upflow reactor maintained at slurry hydroconversion conditions, including high temperature and pressure,
(C) removing the vapor mixture comprising product, gas, unconverted material and slurry catalyst from the top of the first reactor and passing it to the first separator;
(D) In the first separator, the vapor stream containing the product and gas column top fraction is removed towards a lean oil contactor and the liquid bottom material containing unconverted material and slurry catalyst is removed at high temperature and high pressure. Passing through the bottom of the second reactor of the upflow reactor maintained at hydroconversion conditions,
(E) removing the vapor mixture comprising product, gas, unconverted material and slurry catalyst from the top of the second reactor and passing it to the second separator;
(F) In the second separator, the vapor stream containing the product and gas column top fraction is removed towards the lean oil contactor, and the liquid bottom material containing unconverted material and slurry catalyst is further processed. The process of passing through,
(G) In the step of contacting the vapor stream containing the product and gas with the lean oil contactor in countercurrent with the lean oil, the entrained catalyst and unconverted material are removed by contact with the lean oil leaving as the bottom material. The product and gas are passed to the top of the column,
(H) A method comprising the step of passing the top material of step (g) through a hydrotreater for removal of sulfur and nitrogen.   The method of claim 1, wherein the hydrotreating apparatus is operated at hydrofinishing conditions.   The process of claim 1, wherein the hydrotreater is a fixed bed reactor comprising at least one catalyst bed.   The method of claim 2, wherein a quench gas is introduced between the beds to control the bed inlet temperature.   The method of claim 3, wherein the at least one catalyst bed of the hydrotreater comprises a hydrofinishing catalyst.   The method of claim 2, wherein the hydrofinishing conditions further comprise a temperature in the range of 400-800 ° F., a space velocity in the range of 0.1-3 LHSV, and a pressure in the range of 200-3000 psig.   6. The method of claim 5, wherein the hydrofinishing catalyst comprises a combination selected from the group consisting of cobalt, nickel and molybdenum on a zeolitic or amorphous support.   The method of claim 1, wherein an inlet temperature of the hydrotreater is controlled.   The method of claim 8, wherein a steam exchanger is used to control the inlet temperature of the hydrotreater.   The method of claim 1, wherein the bottom material of step (f) is recycled to step (a), and the mixture of step (a) further comprises recycled unconverted material and slurry catalyst.   The process of claim 1, wherein the bottom material of step (f) is passed to the bottom of a third reactor maintained at hydroconversion conditions, including elevated temperature and pressure.   The process of claim 1, wherein at least one of the reactors is a liquid recycle reactor. The method of claim 12 , wherein the recycle reactor uses a pump.   The process of claim 1 wherein the hydroprocessing conditions used in each reactor comprise a total pressure in the range of 1500-3500 psia and a temperature of 700-900 ° F. 15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the total pressure is preferably in the range of 2000 to 3000 psia and the temperature is preferably in the range of 775 to 850 ° F.   The process of claim 1, wherein the separator disposed between each reactor is a flash drum.   The heavy oil is atmospheric residue, reduced pressure residue, tar from solvent deasphalting equipment, normal pressure gas oil, reduced pressure gas oil, deasphalted oil, olefin, tar sand or bitumen derived oil, coal derived oil, heavy oil 2. The hydroconversion process of claim 1 selected from the group consisting of quality crude oil, synthetic oil from Fischer-Tropsch process, and recovered oil waste and polymer derived oil.   The hydroconversion process according to claim 1, wherein the hydroconversion process is selected from the group consisting of hydrocracking, hydrotreating, hydrodesulfurization, hydrodenitration, and hydrodemetallation. The active slurry catalyst composition of claim 1 comprises the following steps:
(A) mixing a Group VIB metal oxide and aqueous ammonia to form a Group VIB metal compound aqueous mixture;
(B) sulfiding the aqueous mixture of step (a) with a gas containing hydrogen sulfide to an amount greater than 8 SCF per pound of Group VIB metal in the initial reaction zone to form a slurry;
(C) promoting the slurry with a Group VIII metal compound;
(D) mixing the slurry of step (c) with a hydrocarbon oil having a viscosity of at least 2 cSt at 212 ° F. to form an intermediate mixture;
(E) In the second reaction zone, the intermediate mixture is combined with hydrogen gas to form an active catalyst composition mixed with a liquid hydrocarbon under the condition that the water in the intermediate mixture is maintained in a liquid phase. The method of claim 1, prepared by: (f) recovering the active catalyst composition.   The process of claim 1 wherein about 98 wt% of the heavy oil feedstock is converted to a lighter product. In the hydroconversion process of heavy oil in slurry, the process removes sulfur or nitrogen from the final product almost completely, and at least two continuous upflow reactors are placed inside the whole reactor and the separator Used in conjunction with, the method comprises the following steps:
(A) combining a heated heavy oil feedstock, an active slurry catalyst composition and a hydrogen-containing gas to form a mixture;
(B) passing the mixture of step (a) through the bottom of the first reactor of the upflow reactor maintained at hydroprocessing conditions, including high temperature and pressure,
(C) in said first reactor, a stream comprising product, gas, unconverted material and slurry catalyst, a vapor stream comprising product and hydrogen and other gases, and a liquid comprising unconverted material and slurry catalyst. A process of separating internally into two streams,
(D) passing the vapor stream tower top of step (c) towards a lean oil contactor and passing the liquid stream comprising unconverted material and slurry catalyst from the first reactor as a bottom stream;
(E) combining the bottom stream of step (d) with further feedstock oil to form an intermediate mixture;
(F) passing the intermediate mixture of step (e) through the bottom of the second reactor of the upflow reactor maintained under hydroprocessing conditions including high temperature and pressure;
(G) in said second reactor, a stream comprising product, gas, unconverted material and slurry catalyst, a stream comprising product and hydrogen and other gases, and a liquid stream comprising unconverted material and slurry catalyst. , A process of internally separating the two flows,
(H) passing the vapor stream top fraction of step (g) towards a lean oil contactor and passing the liquid stream of step (g) from the second reactor as a bottom stream to further processing steps. ,
(I) A method comprising the step of passing the top effluent of the lean oil contactor of step (h) through a hydrotreating device for removal of sulfur and nitrogen.

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